TAKING A HIT

Will the crash of the London-bound B787 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad affect Air India’s dreams of flying high?

- BY RICHA SHARMA

THE FATAL CRASH of Air India flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad has brought Boeing under renewed global scrutiny. After a week of that incident, another Air India Hong Kong-Delhi flight, a 787 Dreamliner, was forced to return to the airport, shortly after take-off, due to a technical issue. However, these events are unlikely to impact the delivery of 185 outstanding aircraft, a part of the fleet modernisation plan of the Tata Group airline.

Air India has an order book of 529 aircraft, which includes 20 B787 Dreamliners. The company is already facing a delay in aircraft deliveries due to global supply chain issues, impacting its expansion plans.

The Tata-owned airline has two variants of Dreamliner in its fleet—B787-8 and B787-9. The majority of Air India’s Dreamliners is the 7878 variant (26), while it also operates seven 787-9 acquired in November from its merger with Vistara. Their average age is 10.9 and 4.7 years respectively.